A series of “coincidences” marked the initiation of Brazilian Rebeca Andrade in artistic gymnastics when she was 6 years old and lived in Guarulhos, a municipality of Sao Paulo.
It was the early 2000s and the new group of children for a social gymnastics project run by the municipality of Sao Paulo had already been practically selected.
The name of Rebecca was not included in it. She was the daughter of a single mother, a domestic worker, who had little time to imagine a sports career in the family.
But Rebeca’s aunt, Cida, had just started working as a cook at the gym.. And he asked the teacher and coach Monica dos Anjos to “take a look” at that lively niece who already liked to jump on the furniture in the house.
“When I saw that strong, toned, muscle-filled little body that we look for in kids in gymnastics, I knew he had something special.”Monica recalls about the decision to make room for another student in her class.
The rest is history.
Andrade became the most successful Brazilian Olympic medalist on Monday, win gold in floor gymnastics, beating American Simone Biles. In total, she has already climbed onto six Olympic podiums.
From young talent to the “most Olympic” woman in Brazil
The 25-year-old gymnast’s historic medal in Paris was followed by silver in the vault and individual artistic gymnastics, as well as bronze with the Brazilian national team.
At the 2020 Tokyo Games, she won silver in the individual all-around and gold on vault.
Her achievements now place her as the Brazilian athlete, among men and women, with the most Olympic achievements, surpassing Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael in sailing.
For the teacher who accompanied Andrade’s first jumps, the gymnast’s increasingly frequent ascents to the podium “rewind a movie.”
“I remember when she came as a child with her aunt. I took her hand and asked her to jump.”I thought: ‘Here we have a new Daiane dos Santos’,” says Monica dos Anjos, recalling another victorious Brazilian gymnast, also black and from the periphery, who was at her peak at the time.
Both Daiane’s and Rebeca’s success, Two women who are “charismatic and bring joy to sport”have increasingly consolidated Brazil in world gymnastics, says Luisa Parente, the first Brazilian gymnast to participate in two Olympic Games: Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992.
In that social project in Guarulhos, where Andrade went with his older brother, one of Mrs. Rosa’s eight children, The girl’s talent soon began to stand out.
The girl began to be accompanied by coach Chico Porath, who is with her to this day.
“It was hard to keep her focused, because everything came easy to her.. When I was lining up the girls I would ask, “Where is Rebeca?” She was watching the older girls, imitating their dance steps, their movements,” recalls Monica dos Anjos.
The gymnast moved to the city of Curitiba at the age of 10 and later to Rio de Janeiro, where she joined the Flamengo Regatta Club gym, where she is still an athlete today.
But, apart from the coincidence of living in a city with an important social project, of having the “push” of Daiane’s success and of having an aunt who cooked for a gym, what makes Andrade such a “great” athlete to the point of being the only one who currently competes on equal terms with Simone Biles, the American super gymnast?
There are three main factors highlighted by their coaches: physical strength and power; mental balance; and charisma.
Shortly after winning the silver medal last Thursday in Paris, Rebeca answered a question from BBC News Brazil: which of these three characteristics helped her the most to get where she is?
“All three helped me, the balance between all of them. And of course, all the work of my team, Chico (my coach) looks at me and I know he trusts me. I look at him and I trust him. If something happens, I know that we will always feel proud, that reassures me,” said Andrade.
1. A powerful body
Those physical characteristics that coach Monica dos Anjos noticed when she first saw Rebeca turned out to be the Brazilian’s weapon.
“His muscular strength allows him to jump very high and perform routines in a cleaner way.“, says dos Anjos.
Former gymnast and pioneer Luisa Parente, who worked with Rebeca at Flamengo, uses the example of a dancer to explain Rebeca’s qualities, who “looks like a feather, although she has to use a lot of strength.”
“You can see that there are gymnasts who put a lot of effort into performing the movements. But Rebecca, like Simone Biles, doesn’t. It’s a combination of natural abilities, with physical constitution and muscular power, and the technical skill she acquired,” she says.
“Rebeca’s flight achieves what every gymnast seeks: what we call range of motion, which is height plus distance.“.
Rebecca’s strength makes her “explosive”When you go out for a run,” explains Monica dos Anjos, “it’s like a powerful car that can go from 0 to 100 km/h in a short time.
“In the case of vaulting, he arrives very quickly and, when he hits the apparatus, he manages to rise high. This makes him land more calmly.”
Despite being strong, Rebeca’s body also suffers from the constant strain of sport. The gymnast had to undergo three surgeries on her right knee, in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
During these periods, she thought about quitting her career on several occasions, as she has said in interviews. But Rebecca had the support of her mother, coaches and even Simone Biles, who advised her “not to give up,” according to the Brazilian gymnast.
“During her last injury I remember that she almost threw in the towel. I remember that I spoke to her on the terrace of the club and I told her: ‘go and talk to your mother, then come back because your place is on the podium’,” says Luisa Parente.
2. Concentration and a clear head
Gymnastics is not an easy sport. The training sessions are hard, repetitive, with hours and hours of practicing the same movement.
“When they come to the competition, the pressure on themselves is enormous, they don’t want to make any mistakes,” explains Monica dos Anjos.
But mistakes inevitably happen, regardless of the hours dedicated to training. And that’s where the work of concentration and with psychologists comes in.
“If you make a mistake, you have to get up. I see how focused the girls are, concentrated. I know they are receiving psychological support, which makes a difference,” says the coach.
On Thursday, after winning the medal, Andrade reinforced the importance of having a mental health professional by her side: “There was a day when I was more anxious and I went to talk to my psychologist. She helped me a lot.“.
In addition to being able to cope with mistakes, the gymnast is able to put herself “in a bubble” during the events, according to her first coach.
“I notice that she acts like there is nothing around her. She doesn’t keep looking at the scoreboard or whether the others made mistakes or got their moves right. She just wants to execute her own,” he says.
For Luísa Parente, athletes with a lot of experience like Andrade – who, despite being 25 years old, has been in gymnastics for 20 years – have the advantage of knowing their body better.
“You can enjoy the moment more, not be so tense about perfection,” she says.
“And there is also the relationship with the coach (Rebeca and Chico Porath have been working together since she was a child), which also helps, because he is the person who spends the most time with her, is close to her and knows how to support her.”
3. The charisma that lifts the crowd
In floor events, where gymnasts perform to music, a gymnast’s energy counts, coaches say. And Andrade has that in abundance.
“In comparison, the Americans do very well in acrobatics. But Our Brazilians, not just Rebeca, entertain the audience, put on a show“, says Monica dos Anjos.
For the coach, who also acts as a referee in international competitions, when the gymnast sees the crowd celebrating “it gives her goosebumps and that helps to enhance her jumps, it is as if she were another person on stage.”
Watching Rebeca give interviews today, with her soft voice and always smiling, her first coach says she remembers the little girl who still lives in the Olympic gymnast.
“That little boy “or his way of being that won us over is still there.”
The choice of music for the floor routine, made jointly by the athlete and the coach, also helps interaction with the public.
In Rebecca’s case, the rhythm that pushes her energy upward tells a little of her story..
The Brazilian performs in Paris to the sound of a remix of the songs End of Timeby Beyoncé, and Sanfoninha Movementby Brazilian singer-songwriter Anitta. In Tokyo she had already won over the public with her Favela Danceby Brazilian artist MC João.
“The athlete has to be enjoying what they are presenting. And with Rebeca we see that this is the case,” says Monica dos Anjos.
“That translates into joy, it is fun in the middle of the competition,” adds Luisa Parente.
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